We live in a society and base our actions on how others behave. If we see that a certain product or service is in demand, it's easier for us to make a decision about purchasing it. The same principle applies to content consumption, and
SMM specialists use this to their advantage: they provoke comments, ask for reviews, likes, or tags in photos.
Audiences tend to trust what is popular with others. However, the number of followers is not everything: engagement and interaction with the audience are important.
Engagement is fostered by another technique—the effect of belonging to a group. In social networks, this is achieved through challenges and contests, using hashtags. For example,
Dove launched the #ShowUs campaign a few years ago to showcase the diversity of women's beauty in unretouched photos. For those who normally wouldn't dare to post their imperfect image, it was easier to do so as part of a project involving many people. The number of posts with the #ShowUs hashtag on Instagram* is over 600,000. For the company, this is a good opportunity to make a statement and attract new customers.
To maintain contact with the audience, brand representatives try to respond to reviews or comments. They also encourage those who leave them. For this, they give a reward—for example, a promo code for a discount.
When choosing between two identical products on marketplaces, we will choose the one with more positive reviews, even if it costs a little more. It's hard for us to trust a seller that no one has bought anything from.
Most users understand that reviews are not always honest, so companies resort to additional tricks—they publish photos, names, and links to personal pages. It's easier to believe information from a real person than from an anonymous source.